Lost Souls & Changing Fate
by SomeoneElsesDream
Summary: When the crew save the life of a young woman, their fates are all changed in an instant. For better...or worse? RhadeOC & other goodies just for fun. Please R&R. Part One now complete. Part two started.
1. Intro

**Authors Note:** This story fits in at the middle of Season 4. Nothing after the episode "The Spider's Stratagem" happened. I have created some back-story that may be a bit confusing at first. Don't worry; you'll get the hang of it. This is my first Andromeda fic so bear with me; I'm making a lot of this up as I go. If you like the story and have any ideas I would love to hear from you.

Almost 500 years ago, long before the fall of the Commonwealth, the Nietzschean prides were united under the rule of the first Royal Family. This began the golden age of the Corsair family. Many years later, the heir was chosen, and the Commonwealth fully supported the family in all their Nietzschean enterprises. All was peaceful and prosperous on the Nietzschean home world; then, the unspeakable happened. The Nietzscheans betrayed the Commonwealth.

The Royal Family had nothing to do with this horrid attack; they never would have supported such actions. For this, they were destroyed. An entire dynasty turned to ash and rubble in a matter of minutes. The name Corsair was now spoken in angry and with violent intent.

Years drifted on, as they always do, and the Nietzschean people forgot all about Kings and Queens. The prides divided, and wars broke out all over the Nietzschean empire. Tyr Anassasi was known as a betrayer and fraud, and so his son's claim was tossed aside as another foolish attempt for Tyr to try to control the Nietzscheans and shape the universe according to his will. There was no one who could unite them, no ruler they could all be led by…or was there?

**The Royal Family**

**Queen Raina** – ruler of the Nietzschean people (Pronounced Rain-Ah)

**King Torin** – consort to Queen Acadia and War Chief

**Prince Lucian** – The Warrior

**Princess Callista** – The Healer

**Prince Darius** – The Politician

**Princess Aislin** – The Oracle

**Princess Arianna** – The Wild Child / The Heir

**Prince Declan** – The Scholar


	2. Ch1:Please God

**Authors Note: **I need a beta reader...desperately. I am writing on a computer that doesn't have Microsoft Word so I am working with a primitive word processing program that doesn't have grammar check. I desperately need a beta reader. If you can help either post a review or e-mail me. Thanks.

**Lost Souls & Changing Fate Part One: Lost Souls**

**Chapter One: Please God**

She didn't know why she was still alive, logically she should have died of something by now. Six days floating on this godforsaken piece of scrap metal with no food or water and something should have killed her. Of course, Nietzscheans are remarkably hard to kill.

"Please God, deliver me from this hell and I will do anything you ask me to do."

This was the only thing she had said in days, a continual prayer to the Devine to save her, somehow. It all started almost a year ago...

The world seemed to explode into a continual blast. Crashes, screams, and bombs seemed to blur into a single sound...death. Everything was in chaos, she couldn't see where she was or where she was going...Trance. Where was Trance? If anyone could help her get out of this slice of hell it was Trance. She stood on tiptoe trying desperately to peer out of what was left of the window. There was no sight of the little pink girl. Where the hell had she gone? Didn't she know her best friend was in trouble? There. Just at the edge of the building...a tail. Trance came quickly, having spotted her friend, dodging rubble and fallen people.

"Anna!"

"Trance!"

The two young women embraced as another mortar shell exploded in the building next to them.

"I have to get you out of here Anna" said Trance, pulling on Anna's arm

"I can't! I have to find my family!" Anna pulled back firmly, trying desperately to turn and look back out the window

"Anna, they're gone."

Suddenly the world went quiet. Everything seemed to recede until there was nothing but the expanding silence ringing in her ears.

"Anna stop! Anna! You're going to hurt yourself." Trance tried to hold the screaming Nietzschean down while she raged against the world.

"Anna you have to pull yourself together. If you don't come with me right now, everything your family is will die with you. You have to survive Anna. Please"

Anna shook her head, there was nothing she wanted more right now than to lay down and die. Everything she had was gone.

"I'm so sorry Anna, I hope when we meet again you will be able to forgive me." Trance looked so sad that Anna tried to comfort her. Pain. Something bit into her shoulder. Trance had a nanoinjecter in her hand.

"What...Tran.."

Sucking blackness. She was floating in the darkness. Nothing was real and what was real didn't matter. Peace was finally hers. Cold. Why was she suddenly so cold.

"She's seizing, somebody hold her down."

Blackness. Death? No, surely death would be less painful than this.

She awoke some time later lying on the floor of what looked like a cell. Where was she? The last thing she remembered was...Trance. What the hell had her little pink friend done this time? She was always causing trouble. Someone was coming.

It got easier to cope after that first visit. Apparently she was found on a small moon in the outer rim in a chriochamber fast asleep. No one knew how long she had been there for, but when they tried to revive her she had a massive seizure. She couldn't bring herself to ask what year it was or what had happened to her family...not then at least. It was many months before she could speak to anyone and she had been having nightmares of her last moments with her family. When she did ask, the answers she received were not what she had expected. Over 300 years had passed since that fateful day and no one believed her when she tried to tell them who she was.

A loud explosion rocked the ship, throwing her across the small room. The ship was under attack.


	3. Ch2:Murder and Confusion

**Lost Souls & Changing Fate Part One: Lost Souls**

**Chapter Two: Murder and Confusion**

"Trance what the hell are you doing?" Dylan demanded as Trance shoved Rhade away from the weapons console and opened fire on a freighter Andromeda had just tagged for investigation.

Trance didn't answer as she fired another volley at the now crippled freighter.

"Andromeda lock off the weapons console." Dylan growled glaring at his medical officer

"Aye ay Captain, locking console access"

It was too late. By the time Andromeda locked the console, the damage was already done. Beka and Harper rushed into Command just as Dylan was demanding an explanation.

"Captain, we need to board the ship and rescue her before it is too late." Trance said, turning to leave the Command deck.

"Stop. How do you know there is a survivor, let alone that there is only one and she is female?"

"Ask Andromeda. There will be one life sign, female, probably Nietzschean, and it will be in the lower cargo hold."

With this last confusing remark, Trance turned and left.

"Andromeda?" Dylan demanded through clenched teeth

"Trance was correct sir. There is only one life sign, lower cargo hold, and I do believe she is Nietzschean and female." Rommie said with some surprise

"What are the risks of a rescue attempt?"

"There is a large radiation leak coming from one of the other cargo bays. It is a high density chemical leak sir, that is what probably killed the crew who would have survived the weapons attack."

"Rhade?" Dylan looked over at his disgruntled first officer

"Aye sir. I will ready a slipfighter."

As Rhade reached the launch deck Trance came around the corner to meet him.

"Rhade. I am sorry I attacked you in Command. There are things in motion here you can't possibly understand."

"Trance, I really don't care right now. An entire crew of people are dead right now because of you."

"They are slavers Rhade, they take people and sell them to the highest bidder. What kind of people could they possibly be?"

Rhade turned to the waiting slipfighter and Trance tried again to make him understand

"She'll be afraid of you." she blurted without her usual mysteriousness

"Excuse me?"

"She'll recognize you and be afraid, either that or she'll be really angry."

"How could she recognize me? Is she from Tarazad?" Rhade looked suspicious

"Well, maybe not you exactly."

"Gaharis."

"Yes."

"Gaharis has been dead for a very long time. If he did something to her family...she might not recognize me at all you know."

"He murdered her family."

Rhade just shook his head. Trance was obviously trying to make him believe that Gaharis killed this woman's family and that she knew him. That just wasn't possible.


	4. Ch3:Rescue Me

**Lost Souls & Changing Fate Part One: Lost Souls**

**Chapter Three: Rescue Me**

As Rhade boarded the mangled remains of the freighter he couldn't help but feel admiration for anyone to have survived, Nietzschean or not. Pulling a com unit out of the AV suit's pocket he checked the coordinates again. The room he was looking for should be just down the hall to his right. Manoeuvring through the debris Rhade called out,

"Hello?"

There, just a little further, Rhade could hear moaning. Picking up speed Rhade climbed through a hole in the bulkhead and into the cell. Curled in the corner, barely breathing, was the most beautiful Nietzschean woman Rhade had ever seen. Admittedly, she was more than a little worse for wear, but by the Divine she was something.

"Hello? Can you hear me? I am here from the starship Andromeda Ascendant. You're going to be all right."

The woman opened her eyes, she couldn't believe what she was hearing.

"Gaharis?" she said in a worried tone

Rhade frowned. This is exactly what Trance said would happen. How the hell does she always know these things?

"You need to come with me. We have a medical officer on board, she will take care of you."

"Yes...alright."

As tenderly as possible, Rhade lifted the small woman out of the slipfighter.

"Trance?"

"Bring her to med deck, I've got everything ready." her voice crackled across the com

Making quick work of the distance between the hanger bay and med deck, Rhade marvelled again at the fragile beauty of the woman in his arms. Impossibly long hair, the colour of fresh minted pennies, poured over his arm to almost brush the floor. Her skin, though bruised and dirty, appeared to be the colour of fresh cream. Rhade sighed,_ it wouldn't do to have these thoughts about her_, he reminded himself, _she thinks you're Gaharis._

Trance was waiting in the hall for them, and as they rounded the corner she couldn't help but be confused. _This was not something I had expected, _she smiled, _fate, it would seem, has come full circle._

As Rhade lay his burden gently on the exam table, Trance was already moving in and giving orders. It took her a few minutes to realize that Rhade hadn't moved.

"Rhade? You need to go shower and change. You can't do anything for her now."

Rhade nodded once, looked again at the woman before him, and left.

"Well, it looks like it is just you and me again Anna."

"Trance?" Andromeda's hologram asked "Do you know this woman?"

Trance just smiled and went back to work.


	5. Ch4:The Awakening

**Lost Souls & Changing Fate Part One: Lost Souls**

**Chapter Four: The Awakening**

It was two days later before Anna woke up completely. She had been lucid for only a few moments the day she was brought onboard. The whole crew had come in to get a look at their newest "mega hot babe" as Harper referred to her. Surprisingly, Rhade was the one who spent the most time with her. There was something about her that he just couldn't get out of his head. It was on one of his visits that she finally woke up.

"Mmm"

'Rhade snapped out of the daydream he had been having when he realized she was indeed waking up.

"Trance to med deck" he called over the com

"On my way"

"Trance?" Anna murmured

"She's on her way right now"

"Mmm"

Trance came through the doors with Dylan at her heels,

"Ah, you've finally decided to join the living have you?" Trance questioned with a smile

"Trance?"

"Hello Anna, it's been a long time."

"Where am I?"

"You're onboard the Commonwealth starship Andromeda Ascendant. I am Captain Dylan Hunt."

"Dylan Hunt? That's not possible."

"I quite assure you it is possible."

"No sir. Dylan Hunt was the captain of Andromeda more then 300 years ago. He's long dead by now."

"You speak as though you knew him" said Rhade in a confused tone

"I didn't. My mother used to speak so highly of him. She said he would have made a fine Nietzschean."

"There is no higher praise" Dylan said with a smile, "But who was your mother?"

"Raina, Queen of the Nietzschean peoples."

Dylan and Rhade both looked at Anna with shock plain on their faces. This woman was claiming to be a decedent of the last Nietzschean Royal Family.

"The Royal Family has been dead since the fall of the Commonwealth." Dylan said at last

"I am quite aware of that Captain. I am not delusional you know. Have your rather impressive ship check the records. I am who I claim to be."

"And who exactly is that?" Dylan asked, growing more confused by the second.

"I am Arianna Corsair, out of Raina by Torin."

"The heir of the Nietzschean empire?"

"I suppose so, yes."

Dylan turned to Rommie, who was working with her AI core to establish the credibility of this woman's story.

"Sir, it appears our guest is telling the truth. Her body shows signs of prolonged stasis, and she matches the last known picture of Arianna Corsair."

"Captain, you can't tell me you believe all this? It is easy enough to change your face. What real proof do we have that she is telling the truth?"

"Gaharis?"

"My name is Telemachus Rhade. Gaharis has been dead for a very long time." Rhade spit angrily

"My apologies Telemachus, it is an easy mistake. Genetic reincarnation?"

"Yes."

"Captain, surely you were aware of Gaharis's engagement?"

"I am aware that there was some negotiating for a wife, yes"

"I was to be that wife."

"That is impossible. His wife is one of the people who settled on Tarazad."

"I said I was to be that wife. I never said I was his wife."

"Why didn't you marry him then? It would have been a good match." Rhade sneered, still disbelieving.

"I didn't want to be one of his many wives, Gaharis refused to have only one wife." Arianna paused,

"And for the record Telemachus, it would have been a near perfect match."

Dylan looked back and forth as the two angry Nietzscheans spit their words at each other. If he didn't know better he might believe they did know each other.

"Rhade that is enough. You need to get to Command, your shift starts in ten minutes."

"Of course sir, on my way."

With that Rhade left without a backwards glance. Trance busied herself with the monitors and pretended not to hear Dylan trying to make sense of everything he just learned.

"Captain, let's not pretend you believe me. You don't. There is nothing I can say that will make you believe me, so why don't you ask your medical officer. She was there."

Dylan turned to Trance is disbelief. He had always thought she was older than she claimed, but to have it stated so matter of fact by a stranger...it was almost too much.

"Trance?" he questioned in a whisper

"Everything she has said is the truth Dylan. I was there."

"How...what...um" Dylan was at a loss for words. The implications of today hung heavy.

"You should go Dylan, Arianna needs her rest."

Nodding blindly Dylan turned and left the room, his head full of everything he had learned and what it all meant.


	6. Ch5:Rhade & Arianna

**Lost Souls & Changing Fate Part One: Lost Souls**

**Chapter Five: Rhade & Arianna**

After his very long shift ended, Rhade found himself fighting the urge to go back to med deck. He was still confused and angry about everything he had learned today, and that woman. God, she was enough to drive a man to drink. Turning into the closest doorway, Rhade was surprised to find himself in hydroponics. Had he really walked that much of the ship so quickly? Moving further into the room, he noticed that Trance was in the corner staring blankly at her bonsai.

"Trance?" he questioned softly, not wanting to disturb her too much

"Rhade. I should have known you'd end up here." she said, looking up at him with her usual smile

"Trance I don't understand."

"I don't know if I have the answers you are looking for Telemachus. I don't even think you have all the questions."

Rhade had startled at her use of his first name, no one on the crew used it.

"What happens now?" he questioned, not quite knowing where the question came from

"Now...now we go forward. The future is not a set thing, what we do now will echo to then. We must move carefully or we risk everything."

Rhade was more confused than before. Trance was usually pretty cryptic, but this was a new level of vague.

"I have to go check on our guest. Get some sleep Telemachus, tomorrow is gong to be a long day."

The next day was a series of disasters both small and large. First, Rhade overslept, something that never happened. Then, when he went to take a quick shower, Andromeda was having some environmental control issues, and there was absolutely no hot water. If that wasn't enough, Beka was on a tear about something and Harper was mooning over their guest...again.

"Harper, for the last time, if you don't shut up right now I am going to throw you out the airlock." Rhade snarled as Harper continued to use Arianna's name, gushingly, wherever possible.

"Alright...man what bit your ass this morning?"

"I heard that Harper"

"_I heard that Harper"_

"That's it...I have absolutely had enough." Rhade stormed away from the piloting console and out the door before anyone could do more than gape. Beka came in the door just as Rhade left, she was almost an hour early for her shift.

"What did you do Harper?"

"What makes you think it was something I did?"

Beka just looked at Harper with a raised brow and a smile. Harper couldn't help but smile in return, it had been so long since he had gotten a rise out of Rhade. Beka sighed as she prepared to start her shift early. Rhade was soooo going to one her one for this.

As Rhade stormed off to his room, muttering to himself about the general madness of humans, Trance was trying to convince Arianna to remain in medical for at least another day.

"Trance, I am fine. There is nothing more that you can do that my body can't do for itself. I need space."

"I understand that, really I do...but are you sure it's the best idea?"

"Trance, I just spent months on that wrecker trying to die. I need space."

"I...trying to die?"

"I...I have to go Trance. I have to."

Without another word, Arianna turned her back to Trance, and left medical. As the door slid soundlessly closed behind her, she frowned at the wall. Where exactly did she think she was going to go? She hadn't seen any of Andromeda except medical and she was most emphatically not going back there. Just as she made the decision to turn right and go wandering, she walked right into Rhade.

"Oh I'm sorry. I wasn't looking..."Arianna trailed off as she got her first real look at Rhade. _Never let it be said that he isn't a fine specimen_, she thought to herself. _Of course, so was Gaharis, and they are genetic twins. _

"It's nothing." Rhade murmured gruffly. If he had thought she was beautiful before, she was stunning all cleaned up. There were still faint shadows of bruises along her jaw, but they did nothing to really hide the delicate beauty of her face. "Where exactly were you going?"

"Truth? I have absolutely no idea. I don't know where anything is on this ship and I refuse to go back to medical."

"Hmm"

"What?" Arianna asked, suspicious

"Would you like the grand tour? I can also look into whether there are any quarters laid out for you."

"That would be wonderful. Thank you."

As the couple started down the hall, Rhade pointing out different features of the ship, Trance leaned on the bulkhead with Rommie, watching them leave.

"It would seem that they are getting along." Rommie said, quickly analysing their body language.

"What madness this, changing fate" said Trance with a smile.

**Author's Note:** I have noticed that a great many people have looked at this pretty little baby of mine. I have also noticed that I have no reviews.Please let me know what you think. I am having a hard time continuing with no feedback. Cheers.


	7. Ch6:Drifting into Love

**Author's Note:** I need to thank my absolutely wonderful reviewers. First thanks go to my very first reviewer **Anja**, cheers darling. Secondly, I have to thank **L.C. Brotherton **for the kind words. And lastly, to my most enthusiastic reviewer **silver-midnite**, you rock sweetie! Thanks for all your support. Here's another chappie for your enjoyment. Sorry it's a bit of a short one.

**Lost Souls & Changing Fate Part One: Lost Souls**

**Chapter Six: Drifting into Love**

"_There is always some madness in love, but there is also always some reason in madness."_

_- Nietzsche _

Arianna moaned as she stretched, mornings were not her best thing. As she padded barefoot to the bathroom, contemplating how she was going to spend her day, her companion slept on.

"Anna?" he mumbled, reaching a hand across the bed and finding it empty.

The shower was on and he could hear the strains of an old earth song. Debating whether or not to join her in the shower, Rhade stretched, for the moment perfectly content.

It had been a whirlwind three weeks since Arianna was released, reluctantly, from the confines of medical. Since that day there was scarcely a moment when Rhade and Arianna weren't seen together. When Rhade had to work, Arianna could almost always be found either reading in her quarters, across the hall from Rhade's, or in hydroponics with Trance, catching up on old times. Life was definitely good for the Andromeda's two resident Nietzscheans.

Rhade shifted into a sitting position as he heard the shower turn off. He had the day off work as the Andromeda had docked with a drift station during the night. Arianna came back into the bedroom with a towel wrapped around her.

"Morning sleepy. Having pleasant dreams were you?" she said with a smile.

"My dreams are always pleasant when I am dreaming of you." he replied teasingly.

As Arianna turned to get dressed, a well muscled arm reached out and dragged her back into bed.

"Telemachus Rhade, what on earth do you think you are doing?"

"I am taking my beautiful lover to bed. What does it look like I am doing?"

Arianna couldn't think of an argument good enough, so she decided to surrender. The nights, and days, spent in bed with Telemachus were the most poetic and beautiful of her life. She never could have imagined that she would find a man so...so...Rhade. There was really nothing in any of the languages Arianna knew to describe her man. Just as things were starting to heat up, Andromeda's hologram appeared, back tactfully turned, to tell them that Dylan wanted everyone to meet at docking bay five in twenty minutes.

Having frozen mid motion, Rhade now shook in silent laughter at the look on Arianna's face. She had gone very still when Andromeda popped in, and now she looked quite aggravated.

"Well that really buggers my morning, or rather doesn't bugger it." she said looking rather unamused with Rhade's poor attempt to contain his laughter.

"We do have a whole twenty minutes you know."

"Not enough time."

"We could make it enough time" he said, dipping his head to nip her collarbone.

"We could..."

It was nearly thirty minutes later that they arrived, flushed and late, to docking bay five where everyone was waiting.

"Why did I have to get out of bed to be here on time, when these two come in all freshly sexed and no one says boo?" demanded Beka, as Dylan just laughed at Rhade and Arianna.

"Freshly sexed?" said Harper, looking confused as always.

Rommie leaned over to whisper to Harper, presumably filling him in, as the assembled crew prepared to go aboard the drift.

"Does everybody have a list of what they need?" Dylan asked, waiting for the doors to open.

"Captain, is there anything I can do to help while we are here? I am beginning to feel quite useless." Arianna asked, she really was starting to feel useless.

"Nothing at all, but see me when we get back to the Andromeda, I might have a use for you."

Rhade and Arianna walked aimlessly around the drift, occasionally poking into some shop or another, hand in hand without a care in the world. Little did they know they were being watched. Someone on this little drift was very interested in the Nietzschean walking by.

Trance was in a small shop specializing in plant proteins when was struck with the most curious sensation. Turning, she thought she saw...no. It was not possible.


	8. Ch7:Revenge

**Lost Souls & Changing Fate Part One: Lost Souls**

**Chapter Seven: Revenge**

Hate. It burned in his blood until it was all he could feel. It had been more than three centuries since he had last seen that face, and time had done nothing but deepen old wounds. Nothing short of painful death would satisfy him now. He had the curious sensation he was being watched .No, not watched, seen. Muttering to himself about the filth and degradation, he vanished into a garbage strewn alley.

)0(

"Thinking that hard is going to give you wrinkles Rhade." Arianna said, smoothing a finger across his deeply wrinkled brow.

"I just...would you stop that." he said, batting her hand away. "Look, there's Trance, go bother her for a minute."

With that, he ducked away and vanished into the crowd. Arianna frowned. Trance was indeed just across the passageway, frowning down an alley. Mentally shrugging her shoulders at Rhade's strange behavior, Arianna made her way across to Trance.

"Anything interesting down that way?" she questioned, jolting Trance out of her...well...trance.

"What? Hmm no, nothing I suppose." Trance said, turning her back on the alleyway. "Where did Rhade get off to? I thought you two were attached at the hip."

"I have no idea. One minute he was beside me, the next, poof he was gone." Arianna gestured to emphasize her point.

Trance smiled. She had her suspicions about the First Officer's whereabouts.

"Do you need anything?" Trance asked suddenly

"Um...what?"

"From the drift. Do you need anything from the drift?"

"Oh. No."

"Well then, let's return to the Andromeda shall we?"

"I don't...Rhade will be looking for me."

"A simple thing to fix."

"How?"

Trance pulled a small com unit out of her pocket, punched a few buttons, and Rhade's face appeared on the tiny screen.

"Trance I'm busy."

"Yes I know."

"Well then?"

"I'm taking Arianna back to the Andromeda."

"Alright then."

"Oh, Rhade wait"

"Yes Trance"

"The pink one"

"What?"

"Definitely the pink one."

With that last confusing remark, she cut the transmission and turned in the direction of the Andromeda.

)0(

Beka Valentine loved drifts. All the chaos, loud music, fights, and thievery. There was something soothing about the sameness of drifts. Every one she had ever been on had that same...something. It was a comfort to her to know that even in the mass insanity of space, some things never change.

Sitting at the bar, Beka sipped her drink, eyes scanning the rather ragtag patrons. Out of a combination of instinct and experience, she paused at a man sitting alone in the corner. He wasn't doing anything out of the ordinary, just having a drink and reading a flexi, but something about him raised the hair along her neck.

)0(

It was almost complete. All his hard work was going to pay off, his prey was finally within his reach. After months, no, years of searching drifts like this one, he had finally gathered a crew. The Andromeda was a prize that interested many, revenge interested the rest. Soon. Soon it would all be over, he would have his revenge.


	9. Ch8:The Calm Before The Storm

**Lost Souls & Changing Fate Part One: Lost Souls**

**Chapter Eight: The Calm Before The Storm**

"_Courage is the art of being the only one who knows you're scared to death."_- Harold Wilson

Telemachus Rhade was terrified. In all his years in the academy, the Home Guard on Tarazad, or even here on the Andromeda, nothing compared to this. His eyes moved again to the wooden box on the bedside table. Arianna was in a meeting with Dylan, Andromeda had promised to warn his when she was on her way, and he was debating being sick.

)0(

Trance sat in hydroponics staring at her beloved bonsai tree, her hands shaking as she lifted the pruners. She knew what she had to do, but doing it terrified her. Walking, as she had all her life, the edge between the past, present, and future, was exhausting business. Every day, it seemed, the future was changing. Today, however, Trance had a much more difficult task. Today she had to venture into the past.

)0(

Harper was busy fiddling with Rommie in machine shop, while Andromeda's hologram made disparaging remarks on the human nature of her AI. Harper and Rommie both ignored said remarks as they discussed what upgrades and improvements could be made. While Rommie was fully willing the admit that upgrades were always needed, she did not feel that improvements could be made. After all, how can you improve upon perfection?

)0(

Beka was tinkering with the Maru, which always seemed to need work of some sort. As she replaced circuits and tightened valves, she couldn't get that man from the bar out of her head. It had beed almost a day since they left the drift, and Beka still couldn't put her finger on what had bothered her about him. He really didn't stand out from the other bar rats.

)0(

Dylan was having a hard time getting a measure of Arianna. She was a remarkable woman with many facets, who didn't fit any one particular mold. Dylan privately thought she was a fitting match for Telemachus Rhade. Dylan and Arianna had been talking for nearly three hours, mostly about the days before the fall of the Commonwealth. Arianna had studied at the Academy on Tarn-Vedra, and was accomplished in all positions onboard a warship. The Andromeda already had: a pilot, an engineer, a Captain, a medical officer, and a tactics officer, what job was left for Arianna to do?

Andromeda's hologram appeared suddenly, interrupting Dylan's musings.

"Captain, there is an unmarked vessel on approach. Her weapons are charged and ready."

"Alert the crew. Battle stations."

Dylan was out the door, before Andromeda could acknowledge, with Arianna at his heels.


	10. Ch9:Family

**Author's Note:** I am very sorry for the short chappies. I assure you it is not forever. I thinkafter thisone and the next one they will be longer. Enjoy. Cheers.

**Lost Souls & Changing Fate Part One: Lost Souls**

**Chapter Nine: Family**

"_Family isn't about whose blood you have. It's about who you care about."_- Trey Parker and Matt Stone

Harper and Rommie were the last to arrive at Command. Andromeda had the vessel on screen and was scanning it for signs of it's purpose.

"There are six life signs onboard Captain. They have point defense lasers and missile capability."

"Thank you Andromeda. Trance, still no response to hails?"

"No Dylan, I'll keep trying."

"Do so. Rhade, are all our weapons ready?"

"Yes sir. Awaiting your command."

"Not yet Rhade, I want to know what we're up against."

Beka moved into the piloting console. "I can get us out of here."

"No. We need to know who they are and why they're after us."

Rommie looked up, "We're being hailed."

"On screen."

"Captain Hunt, we meet at last."

"Why are you after my ship?"

"I'm not after your ship, impressive as she is, I'm after the traitorous Nietzschean onboard your ship."

Rhade moved into view. "I do not know you sir."

"Gaharis?" the man onscreen was visibly surprised

"I am Telemachus Rhade"

"Interesting. Captain, I am referring to your other resident Nietzschean."

Everyone turned to see Arianna in the corner, staring at the screen with a look of shocked horror on her face.

"My beloved sister, we meet again."

"Lucian? How?"

Lucian laughed, the sound grating. "Father saved me." he replied smoothly.

"I don't understand"

"You may have been mother's favorite, but our father say you for what you really were. A weak, pathetic, humanized waste."

Arianna paled. The hatred rolling off Lucian was almost visible.

"Surrender yourself little sister, or I will blow your friends out of the sky. You have five minutes to decide."

As the screen went blank, Dylan ordered Rhade to take out their weapons.

"No." Arianna said, turning to Dylan, "He's right."

Rhade reached out and shook her violently. "What do you mean he's right?"

"I am all those things he said."

"You are not weak, pathetic, or humanized waste."

"I...wait" Arianna had a thought, "Trance?"

"Yes?"

"Did he do it?"

"I don't..."

"Don't lie to me. Did he?"

Trance looked at her most beloved friend with haunted eyes. "Yes."

Arianna moved to the weapons console, "Andromeda, hail them please."

"Hailing" Andromeda responded

"What, may I ask do you think you are doing?" Dylan asked, more confused than angry.

"I'm ending this right now."


	11. Ch10:Of Blood and Water

**Lost Souls & Changing Fate Part One: Lost Souls**

**Chapter Ten: Of Blood and Water**

"_If an injury has to be done to a man it should be so severe that his vengeance need not be feared." _- Machiavelli

Lucian's smirking face appeared on screen.

"Ah, ever noble sister. How shall you be coming onboard?"

"Lucian. Why did you do it?" Arianna asked, her voice emotionless

"Do what?"

"Betray our family, betray the Commonwealth" her voice raised in anger

Lucian sneered. Who did this little bitch think she was questioning him.

"Our family was weak. Our mother loved humans, that's why she chose you to succeed her. She knew you would protect the rights of her precious humans. You always had that little pink freak with you. What was it's name? Trance? You should have left it to die. And the Commonwealth. Nietzschean's should never have joined such a pathetic group, we should have ruled it."

Arianna had never experienced such hate in her life. Not his...hers.

"Why you... our mother chose me because she knew you were weak. Our father corrupted you, used you as his puppet. He was always bitter about only being a King in name, he felt women were too emotional to rule. But you... you are a kinslayer."

Lucian laughed bitterly. "You think that hurts me? What are you going to do about it? You don't have what it takes to kill me and I don't think you are going to stand by and let anyone else do it either."

"Well brother, you are right and you are wrong."

"Oh? Enlighten me then."

"You're right, I am not going to stand here and let someone else kill you. I'm going to do it myself."

With that Arianna opened fire on the last of her family. Within a few seconds the vessel was crippled.

"We're being hailed" Rommie said, looking between Dylan and Arianna.

"On screen" they said together

Lucian's face was bloodied, and the ship was falling apart behind him.

"Well done little sister, our father would be proud. But you're still too weak to finish the job."

"No" Arianna said, a single tear tracing down her face, "I'm not."

The Andromeda was rocked by the force of the explosion. No one in Command moved, everyone's gaze was fixed on the perfectly straight profile at the weapons console. As the Andromeda confirmed that there were no survivors everyone held their breath. Without a word or glance to anyone, Arianna turned on her heel and fled.

)0(

Rhade moved to follow her, but Trance delayed his with a hand on his arm.

"Let me Rhade"

"Trance, I have to go to her. She needs me."

"You will. Let me go first."

Rhade motioned her ahead and turned to Dylan.

"So what happens now?"

"I have absolutely no idea" Dylan replied, rubbing his face, "That was...I don't even have words."

Everyone nodded. There was a shared feeling of stunned admiration for Arianna, mixed with worry...and fear.

)0(

Trance found Arianna in Obs. deck, starring out at the debris drifting by.

"You didn't need to come after me you know."

"I know"

"I'm alright"

"I know"

"People always say that blood is thicker than water."

"Hmm"

"At least water won't try and kill you."

"True"

"I always looked up to Lucian when we were children. He always seemed so smart and brave."

"He was"

"What happened to him?"

"I don't think we'll ever know"

"Yeah."

They both leaned on the railing, contemplating the universe.

"Trance?"

"Hmm?"

"Do you think this is going to change the way Rhade feels about me?"

"I doubt it."

"Really?"

"Really."

"Alright."

)0()0(

**Author's Note:** This is the end of part one. I hope you enjoyed the ride. Part two should be posted soon. If you have any ideas for what should happen next feel free to share them. As always, read and review or I'll sick the evil muse killing bunnies of doom on you.


	12. Ch11:Gaharis and Telemachus

**Lost Souls & Changing Fate Part Two: Changing Fate**

**Chapter Eleven: Gaharis and Telemachus**

It was nearly morning before Arianna returned to her quarters. After everything that had happened, she just couldn't bear to be confined. She spent the better part of two hours aimlessly prowling the corridors of the Andromeda, glad for once not to see anyone. If she was being honest with herself, which she tried to be, the person she was really avoiding was Rhade. In spite of what Trance said, Arianna was terrified that what she had done, what she had been forced to do, would change the way he felt about her. As her door slid silently closed behind her, Andromeda's hologram popped in with a message from Rhade.

"He requests that you meet him in his quarters whenever you are ready."

Arianna looked at the little clock on her bedside table. She had been awake for nearly thirty hours.

"Tell him I will be there in a few minutes please Andromeda."

"Of course."

What did he want? 'Whenever you are ready' sounded like something he would say. Arianna had never met a more understanding Nietzschean. She looked at her clock again, she had spent almost five minutes trying to talk herself into going over there.

"Courage heart," she whispered to herself as she crossed the hall to face her lover.

)0(

Rhade was pacing. There really wasn't enough space in his room to go very far, but he was making the most of what he had. When Andromeda had popped in to tell him Arianna was on her way, his stomach had given a rather sickening lurch. Thank the Divine his family wasn't here to witness this. His eyes again made the circuit from the door to the bedside table and back to the door again. He was having trouble breathing. What was taking her so long? What was he going to say?

)0(

The door gave a little ring to let him know she was there. Wiping his damp hands on his pants, he moved to let her in. Arianna stood frozen at the door. His face was completely unreadable, everything he might be thinking hidden behind a mask. As he gently ushered her inside, she couldn't help the spasm of fear that gripped her chest. Leading the way to a small seating area, Rhade moved to the box by his bed. His hands hovered for a moment, as if debating the wisdom of this plan, before he carried it gently to the sitting area. Arianna was puzzled. Usually, when they could find a spare moment, they were all over each other, but tonight there was not even a kiss.

"I think we need to talk about a couple of things." Rhade began, shifting slightly in his seat. "I must admit, things today were very surprising for me."

"I...I can explain" Arianna interrupted, panic exploding in her chest.

"I don't need you to explain."

"No! You have to give me the chance. I know how it looks..."

Rhade took her hands, "Never be ashamed to survive, to do what you have to do to protect yourself and the people you care about. Never." he said in a low, soothing voice.

That was all it took for the tears Arianna was desperately trying to hide, to come pouring down her face. Rhade moved to crouch beside her, his hands moving rhythmically up and down her back as he murmured soothing things into her hair.

"There is something very important I need to ask you." he said quietly, as her tears abated.

Arianna nodded, trying to rebuild her defenses. Rhade shifted the box so it was directly in front of Arianna.

"Open it."

Arianna reached out with trembling hands.

"Oh God."

"Arianna?"

"Oh my God."

"What do you think?"

"Dear sweet God."

"Do you like it then? Do you...what do you think?"

"It is the most beautiful thing I have ever seen in my life."

"Is that a good thing?"

"This is the same one Gaharis bought."

"Excuse me?"

"Silver and pink, my two favorite things."

"Gaharis?"

"Yeah. Is that a problem?"

"I...really don't know."

"Do you want to take it back then?"

"No...no. I want to do this...if you want to."

"I want to."

"So it's settled then."

Telemachus Rhade reached into the box and pulled out the two double-helix arm bands. The silver and pink one he clipped lovingly onto Arianna's arm. The silver and blue one he passed to her. Reaching out with trembling hands, Arianna made the move that would bind her to Rhade forever.

)0(

In her quarters, Trance was smiling. Things were working out better than she ever could have imagined. Already, the future she so dreaded, was starting to fade away. What happened now was anyone's guess.


End file.
